Place · Bahmani royal tombs · India
Bahmani Rauzas, Bidar
Also known as Ahmad Shah al, Ahmad Shah al-Wali Bahmani & successors, Ashtur, Bahmani Rauzas, Bahmani Rauzas — Ashtur, Bidar, Wali Bahmani & successors
The 14-15 century Bahmani Rauzas tomb cluster at Ashtur village, 2 kilometres east of Bidar, Karnataka — the royal mausoleum complex of the Bahmani Sultans of Bidar (ruled 1430-1538). The 12 surviving tombs include the mausolea of Ahmad Shah I (died 1436), Ahmad Shah II (died 1458), Humayun Shah (died 1461) and other Bahmani rulers. The tombs are built in a distinctive Bahmani-Persian architectural style — tall domed structures on square plinths with glazed-tile decoration imitating Persian ceramic traditions. The tombs' interior walls contain some of the finest surviving 15-century Deccan Islamic painting, including geometric and vegetal patterns in red, blue and gold. The tombs' Persian-influenced architecture reflects the Bahmani court's extensive migration-trade links with Iran. The current structures are 15-century Bahmani with partial 18-century Mughal restoration. ASI protection since 1917. UNESCO tentative list since 2014.
- Function
- Burial and funerary
- Confidence
- Established / referenced
- Location
- 17.910, 77.570
Connections (1)
- Site withinBidar
Bahmani Rauzas, Bidar sits inside Bidar and forms one piece of its layered sacred, royal or civic landscape. The city carries this entry as one of the sites that make its urban fabric legible — a shrine, monument, institution or craft tradition specifically anchored at this location — and the city's broader history reads better when the stop is seen in its context rather than in isolation. The surrounding streets, markets and other heritage ensembles around it belong to the same single city.
On these journeys
Sources
Wikipedia, “Bahmani Tombs”. Archaeological Survey of India and State Archaeology monument records, and the standard regional literature.
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